Lebanon: Six Hezbollah, Amal Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes in the South

28 March 2024, Lebanon, Naqoura: Lebanese women walk past rubble of a café that was hit by an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Naqoura. Photo: STR/dpa
28 March 2024, Lebanon, Naqoura: Lebanese women walk past rubble of a café that was hit by an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Naqoura. Photo: STR/dpa
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Lebanon: Six Hezbollah, Amal Fighters Killed in Israeli Strikes in the South

28 March 2024, Lebanon, Naqoura: Lebanese women walk past rubble of a café that was hit by an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Naqoura. Photo: STR/dpa
28 March 2024, Lebanon, Naqoura: Lebanese women walk past rubble of a café that was hit by an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Naqoura. Photo: STR/dpa

Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Amal parties declared on Saturday that six of their fighters were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah also declared carrying out nine attacks against Israeli army outposts in north Israel.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging cross-border bombardment on a near daily basis. Movements allied with Hezbollah have also declared engagement in military operations against Israel.
On Friday, Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed. Amal movement, led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also said three of its own were killed.
Hezbollah claims to carry out attacks on Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza, and that it is targeting Israeli military sites.
Israel says it is responding to the sources of fire from Lebanon, and is targeting military officials in Hezbollah and Hamas, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Friday that its warplanes carried out an airstrike on a military facility of Amal in Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon.
The spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, announced on X platform that Israeli warplanes targeted infrastructure of Hezbollah, including a military building, in the area of Ayta al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon.
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah announced in a televised speech Friday that the party had not yet used "neither its main weapons nor its main forces" against Israel. He reiterated that Hezbollah would cease its attacks when the war in Gaza stops.
Since the beginning of cross-border hostilities, at least 356 people were killed in Lebanon, including 235 fighters from Hezbollah, 15 fighters from the Amal Movement, and 68 civilians.
On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and eight civilians were killed by fire from Lebanon, according to the Israeli army.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.